Our nation’s representative aged care organisations are calling on all Australians to acknowledge and thank our vital aged care workers on Aged Care Employee Day (ACED) on Friday 7 August.

Aged & Community Services Australia, the Aged Care Guild, Anglicare Australia, Baptist Care Australia, Catholic Health Australia, UnitingCare Australia and Leading Age Services Australia have united to remind us of the proud group of people who are supporting older Australians to age well and stay safe from coronavirus.

It is not every day an unsung hero or quiet achiever gets acknowledged.

Around the nation – in the midst of the fight against COVID-19 – the older members of our families, our mums, dads, grandparents and great grandparents, are being cared for by more than 360,000 passionate and professional individuals.

Our aged care workers and volunteers devote themselves every day to the care and wellbeing of the most vulnerable members of our community.

They are not only working hard to protect them from a deadly pandemic, they are also sustaining connections with their loved ones and maintaining interests in hobbies and recreation.

In the spirit of Aussie tradition, they do this without any overarching desire for recognition. For the vast majority, this is their daily passion because they truly care about older people, their families and friends.

They play essential roles – from nurses, personal care workers and allied health professionals, to chefs, cleaners, gardeners, managers and volunteers – to provide all-important support to around 1.3 million Australians.

As a nation, we are not always geographically close to our older family members but our aged care workforce steps in to fill the gap.

An increasing number of people are able to pursue their passion to age well in their own homes because of dedicated home care workers.

Others are given the chance to live their lives in a nurturing community with the level of support they need, either in retirement villages or residential aged care.

Commonwealth Minister for Health Greg Hunt has said the nation owes a debt of gratitude to aged care staff for their dedication and courage, especially during this challenging time.

A simple thank you will do.

On Friday 7 August and in the lead up, Australians are being asked to say #ThanksforCaring.

The best way is to go to the website https://agedcareday.com.au/

Through the site, you can send an aged care superhero a personal message, print a #ThanksforCaring card for someone special, or upload a photo of someone who has helped your loved one.

There is a host of ideas and resources for aged care organisations, too, about how they can promote and celebrate this national day to honour and thank those who care.

ACED 2020 features a national social media campaign, focusing on videos, stories and photographs to acknowledge the thousands of employees who have worked to protect lives during COVID-19.

All Australians are being asked to support the campaign with the hashtags #ThanksforCaring and #ACED2020

Aged Care Employee Day is an official day, registered with awarenessdays.com

 

Contacts:

 

Aged & Community Services Australia

Annette Glenister annette.glenister@acsa.asn.au 0400 772 722

 

Aged Care Guild

Shannon Rennie shannon.rennie@agedcareguild.com.au 0431 309 694

 

Anglicare Australia

Maiy Azize maiy.azize@anglicare.asn.au 0434 200 794

 

Baptist Care Australia

Zanthe Heaton zanthe.heaton@baptistcare.org.au 0400 967 613

 

Catholic Health Australia

Julian Lee julianl@cha.org.au 0422 343 086

 

Leading Age Services Australia

Nick Way nickw@lasa.asn.au 0419 835 449

 

UnitingCare Australia

Anna Minson annam@nat.unitingcare.org.au 0437 276 834